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Category Archives: Crafts

It’s another sometimes-snowy, sometimes-icy, always-primed-for-a-snow-day winter here in Maryland, and last week, my daughters and I made a craft that I hope I can use for our Makerspace at work.

I remember spending an art class in middle school using paper quilling to make snowflakes. I remembered it being relatively easy and fun, so I decided to try it again. It was mostly easy, and everyone seemed to have fun. One thing I had forgotten was how long it can take to make one snowflake (it took us the better part of the day, off and on), but the upside of that is it becomes a project that multiple people can contribute to.

What I learned about quilling in middle school involved making two basic kinds of shapes: circles and ovals/leaves (really just squashed circles). It can get a lot more complicated, but since that is what I remembered making, that’s what we went with.

The main process involves wrapping a strip of paper (I just used computer paper, cut into half-inch wide strips with a paper cutter) around a pencil to create a circle, then securing the end with glue (Elmer’s seems to work well for this). Once the strip is mostly wrapped, you can let it loosen up some to make a larger circle, or pull it tight to make a smaller one. After the glue dries, you can squash some of the circles to make ovals/leaves. Then it’s a matter of putting your shapes together to make the snowflake.

Strips of paper and some quilled shapes.

I found it easier to pour some glue on a paper plate and apply with toothpicks.

Shapes laid out on a paper plate to glue together–again with a toothpick.

Finished snowflake–just needs a string!

I’m hoping to do this at school with recycled paper, especially since we have an upcoming recycling fair this week to make a “winter wonderland” with recycled materials. We’ll see if the weather cooperates to get it up and running in time!